How to feed a Crowd

A couple months ago I was at the grocery store with a girl I worked with at the time.  We were buying food for an ice cream social we were having at work.  We had a certain amount of money we had to spend and we needed to be able to get enough ice cream and toppings for the employees.  The girl I was with automatically picked the cheapest quart of ice cream she saw and moved onto the ingredients.  What I realized then is if you are not used to buying for a large group of people you may not know all the steps and tools the stores offer to allow you to make sure you are getting the most for your money for the amount of people you need to serve and how much to get per person. 

I would like to share some tools I use when I am planning on feeding a large group on a limited budget. 

1.     First you need to figure out how many people you are feeding.  A general rule of thumb when planning how much food to buy depends on the event.  If you are throwing a party that is a nice sit down dinner and they RSVP plan for that many and then add an couple additional plates just in case.  If you are doing an event that does not require RSVP like an ice cream social or a church event, plan for half and add a few extra. 

For the party I am throwing this week there are about 130 people that are in the group that were invited.  I am planning food for 80.  One of my biggest fears in life is to run out of food at a party.  It is always better to have too much than not enough. 

2.       Now you have decided how many people to serve for it is time to map how much you need to purchase.  Looking at the label is the most important part.  Know how much is in a serving will help you to know how much to buy.  Always look at the label. 

3.       There is also a really great tool the store provides to help you know which brand or size is a better deal.  Just because the price is cheaper doesn’t mean you are getting a better deal.  Most stores will show you the price per ounce or per item. 

Take a look at this picture below.  The top picture looks like it is cheaper, but if you look the top picture is only for 300 forks and the top picture is for 600 forks.  So in reality for only 21 cents more you are getting 300 forks. 

4.       Just because it is cheaper to make yourself does not always mean it will be.  You have to take in consideration time and the cost of time.  Often store products may be cheaper if you are limited on time, help and resources.

5.       Often products are cheaper at different stores, but if you are driving across town to get one product just because it is a few cents cheaper doesn’t mean you are really going to save money.  Once again time and gas needs to be a factor when planning on a budget.

6.       Be wise when planning.  It is called planning for a reason. Make sure you are researching out to the products to know what the best deal is.

I hope these tips will help you better serve food for your next party or event.  Planning food for a large group is not as scary as it looks. 

What tips or questions do you have about planning for a large group?  I love to hear your comments!

Party on!

Catching the Vision

quote *via*

Whenever you are starting anything, especially a party or an event you have to have a vision. I was taught to paint a picture in your head, or on paper, how you want the final product to look before you start your event.
Having this vision in your head is essential, at least for me, to get anywhere when I am putting together any size of event.

Vision should consist of the whole overview of the even: what you want to accomplish, how you want to accomplish it, how you want the event to look (location, decorations, etc.) , how you are going to make it look that way, who is involved and anything else you feel is essential to the event.

Here are tips I have learned while planning events about having a vision:

Put you vision on paper- whether it is drawing it out, making a list, typing it out or collecting pictures of what you would like to see done.  Having your ideas on paper help to solidify what you are planning and where you want to see your event going.

Go out of the box- and dream big for your event. If you dream big in the beginning it is easier to make your ultimate dream become reality if you dream big and go out of the box.

Have a vision-If you do not have a vision it will be hard to get anywhere on the event and you will end up with an unorganized jumbled mess of a party.

When you “catch the vision” it is hard to let go.

It is often even hard to help others “catch” your vision, but when you are working with others on an event it is necessary that both contributors have the same vision.

Don’t be afraid to change your vision as you do research on your event.

Think about the whole perspective-Make sure when you are putting together your vision think about the whole perspective, don't just focus on one aspect of the event. For example if you focus on the food only you will be scrambling around trying to figure out how to display it at the last minute.

One of the greatest feelings, when planning an event, is seeing the vision become a reality.

Party on!